Technical Field
The present disclosure relates, generally, to the delivery of intravenous fluids, more specifically to the monitoring of the rate at which fluids are delivered intravenously to a subject, and the monitoring may affect control of this rate. Provided herein are devices, methods, and systems for use in the real time monitoring of a fluid flow rate and an accumulated total volume delivered through a drip chamber.
Description of the Related Art
Many scenarios require the administration of a prescribed volume of fluid, delivered over a prescribed length of time and at a relatively steady rate. One context where this is routinely required is the delivery of pharmaceuticals, nutrients, and other fluids in a healthcare setting. For instance, a clinical treatment may require a prescribed dosage of a pharmaceutical delivered intravenously (IV) to a patient over a multi-hour time period and at an approximately constant rate.
Gravity fed infusion sets are routinely employed for such applications. Typical infusion sets allow a user to manually adjust the delivery rate of the fluid flow by visually inspecting individual drops of the fluid falling within a drip chamber and adjusting a roller clamp accordingly. If the user desires a faster flow rate, the roller clamp is adjusted in one direction, resulting in a greater drop flux in the drip chamber. If the roller clamp is open too wide, the flux of individual drops becomes a continuous stream of fluid.
If the user desires a slower flow rate, the user adjusts the roller clamp in another direction, resulting in a lesser flux in the drip chamber. If the roller clamp is fully closed, fluid ceases to flow through the infusion set. Typically, the drip chamber is at least partially transparent to light, allowing for visual inspection of the fluid drop flux.
It is difficult to estimate a fluid flow rate by visually inspecting falling drops. Also, without continual visual inspection, a user such as a caregiver or patient may not notice if the flow rate becomes unstable or ceases to flow. Such instabilities may occur if the infusion set becomes clogged, a fluid source, such as an IV bag, becomes depleted, or the infusion set is no longer parallel with the gravitational field. For instance, if a patient inadvertently knocks over a structure that is supporting the infusion set, the flow of fluid may cease or become unstable. Furthermore, a user may determine a total accumulated dose delivered to the patient by noting graduations on an IV bag. However, again the user must manually perform cumbersome inspections that are prone to human induced error.
The efficacy of a clinical treatment may require that a precise total dose of the fluids or pharmaceutical is delivered to the patient at a relatively stable rate over the prescribed time period. It is with these and other concerns that the following disclosure is offered.